Day 6: Fuji-Goko

Day 6: Fuji-Goko

Woke up bright and early at 0615, got into my blue and white striped kimono-like thing, and went out to walk about. The sun had already beaten me to the hotel lobby, and there were already signs of others about. Dumped my clothing into the wash, and went out for more punishment into the public baths again. I made my way out to the indoor bath and was greeted by a breathtaking and absolutely pristine view of Mt Fuji in full all the way out from west to eastern borders, and totally crystal clear, the hot water vapours from the onsen clearing the 6 metre wide window in front of me spotless. A deep sapphire blue sky covered the horizon, with Mt Fuji claiming the centre stage, and a small white puff of smoke clinging desperately to the peaks of the mountain. I got thoroughly wrinkled and hyperthermic once again, and finally made my way down for breakfast. A feast awaited me, with continental style western foods; toast, eggs, sausages, spreads, mixed with the Japanese style breakfast; rice, seaweed, miso soup, fish, salmon, dumplings. Pigged out, then headed out.

Waited for bus from sunnide village, socialised with the ducks, got a ride to the station, then on the loop and made my way to the bat caves. Paid my bit, walked along the track, down to the caves, and followed the procession of other tourists in, through, round, and out of the caves. Very, very low ceilings in the place, I was surprised to find that old ladies at least 3 times my age going through easily the places I struggled to fit through, the roof was that low. Even the squat-bend wasn't enough to get me under some of the ceilings, I had to resort to sidearching too. I shuddered at the thought of what it would feel like if the roof collapsed on me, with the hard stony coldness breaking into my skin and shattering my chest and bones. I caught the bus to the next location, and walked down a similar bambooed path, passing the old grumpy and bored men manning the toll boothes, and reached the next cave. Apparently these were all formed when lava leaked from Mt Fuji a long time ago, splitting the one lake into 5 (hence the name of the area) and forming these now newly discovered underground cave systems. Made my way down some icy caves, looped around and came back up. Was bored, so decided to trek around the area - went bushwalking for a while mapless, didn't reach the next bus stop area as expected, so went back. Had myself some cheap noodles (tempura soba - small and not up to scratch), a curry donut and a steamed soft mooncake thing. Bussed back to the village, fell asleep.

Arrived back at the stop, outside a coffee-like shop and park next to the lake, full of japanese tourists. Changed buses and made it back to Sunnide, got my trusty old bike and rode back to the park and tourists. Zoomed around the people, and followed the lake around the southern border. I put up with my sore bum (from my previous long ride), and rode along the bumpy gravel track, passing fishermen, walkers, sightseers, and young couples along the way. Found a named temple just as I was about to give up riding westwards, and found some stone statues of people sweeping. Explored around the deserted temple buildings, then finally left and made my way back. Watched as the sun sunk below a lonesome tree in the horizon amongst lowly shrubs, then slowly trundled back to my home. Dropped off my bag, and since I was waiting for dinner to happen, I grabbed my camera and made my way out to the little side-road near the village where I had passed some photographers the previous night.
Using my little hand-sized tripod for my camera, I unsuccessfully tried to take a few shots of the sunset-backgrounded mountain, by walking down the grassy area, trod inside the flowery gardens, and in and around the little stones scattered around the red rosy garden. After a few shots from the various stones around the area, an elderly Japanese man, with a grin on his face, decided to take pity on me, and offered one of his many tripods for me to use for my camera. Using both my very limited Japanese (with the aid of my translator book) and his limited English, we gradually exchanged stories. His was a retired gentleman, with his only real hobby being photography (being quite knowledgable in the field), and was out on his second night trying to get the perfect shot of Mt Fuji with the sunset and the moon. In retrospect, I was sure I had seen him the night before as I rode past at dusk on my bike. He had spent the night before awake the whole night waiting in the cold silence, biding for that perfect moment of clarity from the stars, as his wife was asleep in the car beside him. We both stood in silence as the minutes passed, not knowing any more about each other, not even our names, but only appreciating the scene before us.

Finally, it was time for my dinner, and so I thanked him in my broken Japanese, returned the equipment, and made my way back to the hotel. An individually catered meal awaited me back at the hotel, including personalised room number table booking, and a patient waitress that was always prepared to explained to me what I was meant to do with all the little bowls in front of me. I suki-yaki like meal was the course for that day, along with a serving of green tea, and little entrees of pickled vegetables and fish-like objects. I retired for the night afterwards, journaled, and finished off the rest of my Fuji wine.

Outside the hotel

Which way?

Karee donatsu!

Lakeside village

Island Home

Garden

Again Fuji